Where is my true home?

Undertaking international travel helps us to see our world differently. We are called to open our hearts to new people and fresh experiences. We notice that when we travel we are welcomed as visitors. This helps us to notice how we can receive rather than demand hospitality. We trust ourselves to the generosity of our hosts who seek to share what is precious to them.

We see this in the readings for this weekend. Do we see ourselves as residents seeking to welcome others or as visitors in a foreign land. I believe this will shape how we seek to live our lives. Do we seek to possess the gifts entrusted to us by God or do we seek to share them. I feel that our sacred authors call us to see how our lives are shaped by these attitudes. Do we see ourselves as pilgrims or tourists?

As pilgrims we travel the way together and welcome the people who share their time with us. As tourists there can be a temptation to hoard experiences that seeks to contain our world to a privatised sense of self where we are entitled to consume these events. As pilgrims we are transformed where as tourists we are limited to our last experience. 

I feel that this is the challenge for our Church today. Do we seek to become pilgrims who accompany others or are we tourists consuming the Holy for ourselves? 

The Carefree Gardener

 The gardening analogy has carried on for another week. This touches on the task of what we consider to be a weed and what we consider to be a plant that we want to flourish. The story about harvesting the darnel and the wheat reminds me of how many exotic species that are appropriate in their own environment grow with abandon in an Australian environment. I am very much aware of how Lantana produces a really pretty flower from native Latin America that smothers the native grasses in Australia. Similarly, Eucalyptus can be considered a weed outside its native environment. This reflection helps us to see what may be a beautiful plant for one person that may be considered a noxious weed when it grows outside its native environment.

No wonder God is so tolerant of weeds in a world that has shrunk due to the prevalence of world travel and the biosecurity measures that we experience in Australia to keep our native environment safe. Yet this is more than just the spread of exotic species but also how ideas and behaviors can be viewed with favor or disdain. Each of us will have noticed how many attitudes can shift about what is considered a virtue and what is considered a vice. It seems that we are in constant flux about what is acceptable about human behavior and what is not. No wonder so many people are confused about how to live a spiritual life in accord with the person of Christ.

I believe that at the heart of the Gospel for this weekend is the call for compassion for the person but not for the sin. By recognizing that our lives can be beset by problems and difficulties we need to notice our own weakness and keep turning back to God in reconciliation. As Paul discovered there is the paradox of discovering how he needs to keep praying with his whole self that transcended words. It was this prayer that allowed us to embody what is in the mind of God for the good of the person and the good of the community. 

We can be thankful that God is mild in judgment which helps us to be kind in our approach to others. As we can see this stands in contrast to the focused outrage that we see too often in our daily news where the spotlight shifts rapidly from one sinful act to another calling us to take a stand. Rather God sees to the heart of the person and seeks what is needed to win that person's salvation. This may be an important lesson for us in an age when everything seems to be turned on its head and what is valued can often seem counterfeit and vice versa. It calls us to be people who pray, reflect on our environment, and act in a way that allows God to draw us closer. This is not so much pondering our sins as allowing God's grace to draw us closer as missionary disciples even in a time of great confusion.

The Careless Gardener

 I am not much of a gardener but I try my best to try and ensure that what I plant has the best chance to grow and flourish. Thus I am careful in what I purchase, make sure that the ground is prepared, and that I water and fertilize the plant. However, this is not the image that is presented in the Gospel. In this, the gardener keeps sowing the seed regardless of whether it will grow in the environment in which it will land. This seems to be a paradox because you would think that God knows where the seed has the best chance to grow. Yet what we notice is that in some way we have to play our part in being able to receive the word into our hearts. That means that we not only hear it but also have to create an environment in which it can be heard.

This is often difficult in our modern environment when there is a tsunami of words and we do not know how to sift what brings life and what distracts us from trying to live in a way that is alien to us. I believe this is why we need periods of silent meditation with scripture where we allow the word to filter more deeply into us. In Lectio Divina we first hear the word so that we can notice what grabs our attention, we read it a second time to see what moves us to pay attention to our own feelings, and we read it a third time to notice where it addresses aspects of our own life and then we have time for it to settle more deeply inside us and take root.

In this way, the word becomes at one with our thinking, our feeling, and our acting. We become at one with the word as part of mind, body, and spirit. In slowing down we allow God's word the best chance to take a hold of us and become firmly planted in who we seek to become.

My yoke is easy my burden is light

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” This quote from Teilhard de Chardin causes us to ponder more deeply what it is that we labor at and why. Often the call is to recognize that it is God who labors with us in our daily life rather than trying to meet a benchmark where we will encounter God.  This emphasis on encountering God becomes as natural as breathing and seeks to guide us on what becomes the focus of our life.

Too often we measure our success by being able to make decisions for ourselves, by appearing important in the eyes of another, or even how much we own. Yet we are called to recognize that it is in this homing experience of God that we encounter ourselves. It allows us to work for an eternal home through the priorities that are expressed in daily life. We do this as embodied people, not as disembodied spirits. We experience in our own bodies the reality of God coming truly alive. It helps us to be stewards of creation and brothers and sisters to each other. 

This sharing of our life for the good of God, the good of others, and the good of ourselves is at the heart of the teaching of Jesus. He desires for us to experience and live out this reality. This is how we come into communion with God and each other. That God journeys with us even when we encounter difficulties. He opens our hearts and minds to live with God.

Preference Paths

 Often town planners look at the routes people take in deciding how to modify roads or footpaths. We often see this when people have their favorite rabbit runs to cut through suburbs to arrive at their destination more quickly. In a similar way, you see the tracks where people walk being worn down by foot traffic. Each of these decisions looks at the best way of arriving at our destination more quickly. Also in the second place it looks at our preferred traveling companion who we want to accompany us on the way. This allows us to notice not just the direction we are heading but also who we join us on the way.

The question is not just about noticing our own identity that can be defined by our family and friends but also who we welcome into our orbit. It allows us to appreciate that we are called to be who are in our relationships with others. Jesus expands the orbit beyond what is familiar and focuses on how we are called to become disciples. This growth in holiness assumes that our lives are deeply influenced by another. Matthew continues to ask us to notice how our lives are to be orientated towards God and not just to our own parochial interests. He calls us to be transformed from the inside out and to notice how we are called to live in a way that guides our thinking, our speaking, and our acting.

This is an orientation to our true self seen through the eyes of God. We are called to live in a way that builds on good foundations where we are blind to our own self-interest and moved more clearly towards God's-interest. Often this can be portrayed as polar opposites but rather it is a correcting of our aim to actually see the good entrusted to us as being lived not just for ourselves but for the good of all creation. This is about expanding our hearts to discover God's preferences for us and not just our own. When our hearts are in tune with God we discover that we can love from the heart and with all our soul. Our thinking is motivated by this motivation and it channels where we spend our time, energy, and resources. The preferential option is not just what I want but who God desires me to become. In this way our preference paths guide others to discover their own way of life that calls us out of the darkness.

Seeking Good News

So often we wake to news that is not good. We read of accidents, tragedies and natural disasters. We often hear also of people's misdeads and betrayals. With such a constant diet of misery and misfortune who can blame anyone for shutting down. We can only take so much without trying to retreat into our own privatised world.

Yet the Gospel seeks for us to become detectives of grace. To listen for the hidden wisdom and the sheltered word. This is a proclamation that gently recreates us and unites us in faith. No longer are we called to be strangers to each other or aliens in our own land. The searching for the meaning at the heart of life reveals that we are not the sum of our fears. We are children of hope called to witness to our faith in every age. We are not victims of circumstance but agents of compassion. 

May we seek this truth everyday and be present to God in our everyday lives. 

Learning to become shepherds

 There is often a portrayal of sheep as being easily misled, vulnerable, and moving as a mob. They are easily spooked by fears that may be as commonplace as a gust of wind, a sudden noise, or the appearance of a stranger. But they also seek out good pastures and seek to stay close to each other. Like all living things they provide gifts that are not just fleece and food! They also help us to discover how to slow down and become present in the environment in which we live.

When Jesus chose the image of the good shepherd he sought to provide an understanding that he came to live among them. Pope Francis often talks about having the smell of the sheep on the person who pastures the flock. This is important because it means that a person lives in the same conditions as them and does not hold himself aloof from their daily struggles. It is one of the realities of being a priest that we are not to lord it over others but rather listen to their stories and become one with them.

This is probably counter-intuitive as we see people in leadership being removed from the everyday struggles of people. This distance can seem to them trying to control, direct or manage the mob rather than being part of the mob. The call that Jesus places on our hearts to take on their labor and at times be willing to carry them along. In this we discover that the kingdom of God is within us and that God lends his ear to those that seek to be led. Today we notice how he seeks to cure the sick, raise those who are deadened to life, cleanse human hearts, and purge us of all that alienates us from God and each other.

Learning to love what is unlovable

 The three feasts that we celebrate during the conclusion of Eastertide are at the heart of living the Christian life. Pentecost shows that The Holy Spirit is entrusted to us so that we can experience the love of God, The Trinity shows us how to grow in a total self-giving relationship with the other, while The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ shows us that this love is tangible and offers our whole self for the good of others. It is the call to grow in a nuptial love that is not just centered on what I want but to discover what it is to love what is unlovable. This is at the heart of our lives in learning to love like God.

The heart of the Christian life is to grow into the heart of God. In our prayers, we discover it is not even about the quality or quantity of our prayers. This helps us to notice that our prayer is not just about how we feel or the amount of time we spend in prayer but rather that we become present to God in prayer. This is probably the most difficult discipline of prayer in actually showing up and discovering that our faithfulness to being present is at the heart of God. We show up even when we don't feel like it. This is the obedience of being willing to listen to God when our whole being rails against listening and would prefer to do our own thing. It means that we trust our whole selves to God even if we don't feel like it.

It also shows us the mutuality in seeking to love the other person even in their fragility, incompleteness, and sinfulness. This talks about how God seeks to be in a nuptial relationship with us and enter most deeply into a relationship that is all about giving and receiving the love of another. The mutual loving of another is known as the return model where love responds to love. This is what we are called to learn at the heart of a relationship. This is true in whatever state of life we are called to live our life. The central question is how am I called to love this other person even when I discover behaviors that I hate. This does not mean we compromise ourselves by just doing what the other person wants but rather discovering who it is that I need to be for them. I can only be myself but I can be myself for the good of the other. This chaste way of living allows us to see love through the eyes of another.

This then leads us to know what skin is in the game. This is not just loving as a part-time profession or a feel-good activity that we undertake on our terms. This will cost us everything in learning to love like God. In fact, this is the reality of the Incarnation that God shows up when we discover what is unlovable about our life. God actually turns up not because we have everything all together but because everything seems to be falling apart. This is not cheap grace because it costs the whole self for the good of the other. Our humanity protests that this is too much and that God cannot be serious but the divine call of ultimate poverty is that in giving everything we receive everything. In fact, this is the paradox of the Christian life we only discover ourselves when we fully give ourselves without the expectation of a particular reward. It also changes what we do when we discover fragility, frailty, and alienation within ourselves the call is not to eradicate "the sin" but to surrender everything to God.

So this is learning to love like God in discovering how we are called to be loved into life. As we enter what is called ordinary time we discover the extraordinary love of God that surrenders everything to us so that we can surrender everything to God,

Come Holy Spirit

 When we go into a pick-and-mix store we can often be presented with many attractive lollies. The desire is to fill our bags with goodies and then return home to consume them in our own time. Yet Pentecost is more than just seeking out the gifts that are attractive to us but rather seeing how the Spirit guides us to proclaim the Good News in our own time. It allows us to discover that the Spirit advocates for us to become witnesses.

This enables us to discover the charisms that draw us closer to God and closer to each other. They help us to acknowledge that God does not abandon us or leave us as orphans. God adopts us as children who are formed in God's image and likeness. We become stewards of the graces entrusted to us for the good of all.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth. O God who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by that same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolations, through Christ our Lord.

The prelude to mission

 In encountering Jesus along the way the disciple's hearts burned within them and allowed them to experience him at the breaking of bread. This encounter lives on as we prepare to experience Pentecost next Sunday. This is not just a once-in-a-lifetime experience but rather an embodiment of how the early Church experienced the reality of the Holy Spirit. 

He walked alongside them on a road that drew them away from an incident that was full of sorrow and disappointment. They had sought to follow Jesus and had believed that in him all things were possible. Yet their sight was clouded by a vision that had been formed in their own minds and hearts about what God should be doing to proclaim the kingdom. This can be an all too familiar experience in our own lives when we wonder why God seems to be slow to act against injustice and oppression. 

Jesus takes these encounters seriously as he listens to the disciples and their real-life concerns. Yet He also seeks to draw them into a deeper encounter with who he is and invites them to recognize him as he breaks open the Word for them. This is not just reading from a text but a reading of the heart. This is how we can meet Jesus in the Word proclaimed. Their excitement is not just momentary but seeks out a longing deep in their hearts. 

They bring this anticipation of a richer and more fulfilled life to the altar of life where he breaks bread with them. In this moment he shares not only himself but a deeper understanding of themselves as people called to share that life with others. This is the proclamation that Jesus makes at the Ascension and is realized in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Jesus emboldens the disciples to become people alive with his vision of proclaiming the Good News to every nation. This is not just a personal gift but a mission for every nation and every generation. We are called to follow Him and proclaim his life to all people and to the whole of creation.

Whom do we preach

Easter is about encountering the Risen Christ. Too often we can settle for an interpretation of who he is rather than discovering how we become one with God  At the heart of the pilgrimage of life we are called to be at one with God. This is the challenge and art of surrendering all that is to God.

On whom do we build our foundations?

 There has been much attention on the coronation of King Charles III in the last few days. In the midst of the pomp and ceremony the question of who we pledge allegiance to has come to the fore. This is a question for all of us and is at the heart of the Gospel reading for this Sunday. Thomas wants to know where they are called to follow in the future and what plans need to be put in place. I have great respect for the questions that Thomas asks because they are often ones that arise from our own hearts. Yet, Jesus responds by pointing to himself by saying that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This can raise fresh questions that come from Philip seeking to see what this looks like and Jesus reassures him that if he has seen him, he has seen the Father.

However, it is this seeking after the person of Jesus that moves us to question on whom we build our foundations. This is not just about reliance on allegiance to an institution but rather on the person who gives substance to our lives. This internal sense that each of our lives finds a calling to discover who guides us and becomes our light to illumine our path. This personal encounter allows us to acknowledge who we listen to and how they shape our own responses to the way we live. Too often we can be drawn by the image that we are real if we are successful, influential, and wealthy. Yet these can be ephemeral and quickly taken from us. To base our lives on these shifting sands can cause us to be swept away by the tide of history. On what will we build our foundations?

I believe it is the simplicity of the Christian life that calls us to become people of prayer, reflection, and action. This model is how we encounter the person who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We are called to be people who enter into a relationship with God who seeks to reach out to us and we seek to reach out to God. We are called to ponder where the truth lies in the daily life of seeking God at the heart of all things. This is not just an intellectual assent that can be proclaimed with our lips but rather what captures our hearts with joy and gratitude. From this heartful assent our lives become shaped by who we seek to become.

This is the living stone that allows us to grow in our daily response to God. To become the person that God intends us to be. A daily reflection on our way, our truth, and our life allow us to meet Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Being a Good Shepherd

 Pope Francis often talks about the importance of pastors having the smell of sheep upon them. Having traveled the Camino to Santiago de Compostella there are several images that emphasize this insight. The first is the royal road that gives local shepherds priority in moving their flocks from one place to another. This allows people to see the importance of a person leading others to good pastures but also a community recognizing that this is a basic underpinning for society. We are called to be people who seek good pasture that allows a person to be provided with the basic necessities of life. 

The second reflection is that the shepherd shares his life in the middle of the sheep. This emphasizes a basic familiarity with the conditions in which they live. The shepherd goes out to the field and learns to listen to their smell and their voice. He starts to be able to be present to who they are and respond to their particular needs. This allows a person to be available and present to them as there are.

In our own age, we also need shepherds. There is a need for the basic priestly presence of people being present to others in their own square metre. The ability to mix with people in our own neighbourhood and our own environment. This familiarity allows us to read the signs of the times by seeking actions that respond to particular needs. It also broadens our sense of home to not being isolationist but being people who see that our action or inaction has an impact on others. The call to be good shepherds seeks to befriend others and to see Christ in them.

We also need pastors who provide the point of unity and enable us to recognize how Christ is at work in our midst. We know how easy it is to be concerned only about our own mob rather than noticing the interconnection between our common humanity. It also seeks to see whether we are coated in fear or in love. There is a seeking that seeks to proclaim life that may be lived to the full. We need to reach out to each other in a friendship that proclaims Christ in risen for all people and for the whole of creation.

Accompanying each other along the way

 Our ability to walk and talk can not only bring us closer together but can help us journey forward into an unknown future. Often in life, our markers are placed in the past and formed by the experience of what has happened. This can cause us to shape the future by predictions of what should happen rather than what is happening. The experience of the disciples on the road to Emmaus helps us to see that we are all formed by our own interpretation of history. Yet in talking together about the Easter event our lives are reshaped by the person of Jesus that we encounter along the way. He listens to their story and their hopes but helps them to reimagine how the scriptures draw them to a deeper encounter with the Good News. He does not abandon us to our own devices but causes our hearts to burn within us as we meet at the Eucharist.

In our own age, we accompany each other into a future that is not our own. It calls us to the heart of creation in discovering the Word of God who walks with us still. That shares life through the Eucharist and enables us for our mission. As we walk with each other and listen for the voice of life that recreates and renews all things. We discover the promise that we journey to the heart of God. Each day we become people who build a communion of faith that seeks to witness how our lives matter to God.

God surrenders everything to us that we may surrender everything to God

Saint Matthew in his Gospel account of Jesus sums up his teaching as learning mercy not sacrifice. I believe this is important in the light of Jesus' invitation to Thomas to touch his wounds. I believe this is more that a casual touch but rather an embracing of his heart. We need to feel the rhythm of his life beat through our own. May we discover how God is present to us today!

Travelling together in Christ

 As we approach Easter there is a calling to walk with Christ. This invitation is pivotal in our Christian lives because it marks a transition from doing things for Him to being present with Him. We see this as we mark an important shift in the governance of our own hearts. We are called to recognize the face of Christ in every culture and every nation. This central principle of friendship allows us to discover that we are not alone on this journey. As we seek to accompany our local Church  to share the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office entrusted to us at baptism. With our Bishop, we seek to become servant leaders who seek to pray, study and act in a way that embodies the person of Christ in our own communities. As we enter the 50 days of Easter may we encounter the risen Christ who wells up within us for the good of God, the good of each other, and the good of all creation. May we discover as the disciples did on the road to Emmaus that our hearts burn with us as we talk along the way? That we notice Him whenever we break bread together and are drawn deeper into a communion that is His Body and Blood. May you experience the Easter blessings that surprise us with joy!

Walking with Jesus

As we went Holy Week there is a subtle but important change of pace. This is where we start to walk more closely with Jesus. We recognise how grief, disappointment and opposition can confront us in daily life. But as we see in the prophet Isaiah they do not crush his spirit. Rather he sets his face into the wind and seeks to be who he is called to be.  

In a similar way as walk with him we can discover someone who does not want us to be crushed by our suffering. Rather he seeks for us to be touched by a confidence of knowing how deeply we are loved by God. This is not just a call to buoyant optimism but rather a discovery of how God seeks out the best for us even in our greatest trials.

As we journey through this week may we discover how walking with Jesus we may encounter him more deeply.

Living

 I recently watched a movie called Living starring Bill Nighy who played a public servant, Rodney Williams in the Public Works Department of the London City Council who faces a terminal illness. The plot is built on a previous film Ikuru and the Russian Novella, "The Death of Ivan Ilyich"(Wikipedia.org). Essentially it seeks to move beyond the nickname given to him by one of his clerks, Miss Harris who calls him Mr. Zombie. This is a person who looks alive on the outside but is dead on the inside. The movie touches on what it means to be alive and to live a worthwhile life. It is set against the backdrop of a group of women petitioning for a playground in a deserted area of the local council area and how their application passes from one department to another before landing back in the public works department. One poignant line which weaves throughout the movie is the image of children being reluctantly called back from the playground by their mothers. The impression that Rodney Williams ponders is whether when God calls him home he will reluctantly respond to the call as he ponders what he cherishes in life.

In the story of Lazarus, we see similar scenes played out as Jesus faces the death of a good friend. This is more than just a realization that the sickness will end in death but how we make sense of our lives. Martha is able to assent to her belief in the resurrection, and Mary is able to assent to the importance of where our hearts lie but Jesus draws attention to how we are all called to be present to God. This is not just about thinking and feeling our way toward God but also how we are physically present in what brings us life. It calls us to ponder not just what God can do for us but how we can be with God and live in union with God. There is an element where we come to life when we lose our life for the good of another. 

As we enter into the last days of Lent and come closer to Holy Week we are called to discover how we are present as body, mind, and spirit to the realities of our daily life. Are we just making our way through life or do we find the deeper meaning which is present in the silence of our hearts?

What blinds us and binds us?

 Whenever we experience physical limits or sickness in life we can tell a story about our own worth. The link between our body and our spirit is at the heart of the Gospel for this weekend. We can start to tell ourselves a story not only about our illness but also about ourselves. There can be a tendency to make ourselves into a disease rather than a person who is called to live with a disease. This is where we can become mixed up between what causes our ill health, the reality of suffering with the daily effects of that condition, and the reality that we are called to be whole in ourselves.

We see this in the way that Jesus responds to the man born blind. He not only seeks to remedy his physical condition but also his social isolation which has forced him into a life of begging. The healing is more than just physical healing but also societal healing that restores him to the community. We witness that the person is restored to his original dignity where Jesus sees him not just his sickness.

This is the challenge of any religious community we seek to become people who are suffering. This is helping us to orientate ourselves towards the other for the good of the other. Our communities are not called to become clubs for the saved but field hospitals for those in need. In this way, we witness the relationship that is at the heart of any healing, an encounter with the person of Jesus. He looks at us as we look at him. 

We discover that especially in our own age we can be liberated from what blinds and binds us. We discover a truth that transforms our day and restores our dignity. We witness to the incarnate presence of Jesus who restores us in thanksgiving for the person we can become.

Having deeper conversations

 The woman at the well is an example of how God draws us more deeply into a conversation that has life-changing consequences. The meeting between Jesus and the woman reminds me of my Camino experience 20 years ago when I walked into a Spanish village and sat around the common well. Only the pilgrims were foolish enough to be out and about in the middle of the day. The rest of the village had shut their windows and doors to escape the heat and rest. Yet it is during this time of resting that we discovered the importance of remaining hydrated and we welcomed both the temporary shade and the refreshing water.

Yet like many discussions on the Camino people started to talk about everything and nothing. The beginning of the dialogue was noting what can separate us but also what can unite us. This starts with the everyday question of what will quench our thirst. It is a willingness to respond to our physical needs but it also touches on a thirst for meaning which will transform our discussions. We seek to encounter life-giving water that will fill us with hope.

As the encounter continues this touches on the various traditions between Jewish and Samaritan cultures and how we rely on our history and ritual to understand how we reach out to God. Yet in the midst of these insights, Jesus reveals how God reaches out to us so that we can worship spirit and truth. This allows us to see how our faith is built on this personal encounter with Jesus that allows us to bear witness to others in our lives. This revelation allows us to see how our prayer transforms our relationships with other not just for the good of ourselves. Our prayer draws us closer because God meets us in our openness to sit down and be present and listen.

Whom do we seek?

 When we enter into prayer there is an anticipation that we will grow closer to God and that God can draw closer to us. Yet this is not an exact science where a particular form or method will work. Yet it is actually a call to enter deeper into a relationship where God takes the initiative and invites us to listen more closely. We are not just called to hear our own voice but rather the voice of God holding us in silence.

I think too often we can be like Peter, James, and John when we climb a high mountain and taste the rarified air. This intoxicating feeling can overcome us and blind us with a loving presence that transcends our every day.  These occasions seem too rare or infrequent that we want to hold on to them and like Peter build three tents to contain our insight. Often like the modern habit of wanting to capture the moment with our mobiles or cameras, we do not want to lose the experience. Yet when we look at these photos later they do not quite meet our expectations and we wonder what it was that we were seeking.

In these dark nights, God encounters us in a way that seems to be devoid of words and images. Like being plunged into a cloud of unknowing where we can become afraid that we encounter only darkness and even separation from the one we seek. Yet in these moments we are no longer called to listen to our thoughts, ideas, or images but rather the quiet still voice which says this is my beloved Son listen to him. This allows us to become aware that our lives are not just centered on our own striving but rather on a God who envelops us and surrounds us.

These encounters allow us in these wordless, imageless moments to ponder more deeply a God who is at the heart of all things and who is no-thing. God holds us closer so that our lives may become a blessing not just for ourselves but for others. That we may proclaim life which transforms our very being. It helps us to be enfolded into a way of being present that transfigures our world.

What do we fast from?

The three temptations that Jesus encounters in the desert even beset us today. They are basically the same lie. We are only someone if we are powerful, influential, and relevant. We need to be seen, heard, and connected to the right people. The danger is that we can pursue things that are external at the expense of what is necessary which are faith, hope, and charity that flow from a living relationship with God. 

During Lent, we are often presented with these temptations in many different ways. We can spend a lot of time trying to control people and situations to arrive at a pre-determined end. This causes us to become myopic and moved by our own viewpoint. Prayer allows us to see with God’s eyes and gain a broader vision.

We can also spend time trying to bend others to listen to our voices. We can end up just hearing the echo of our own voice. We need to enter silence so God can speak to our hearts.

We can then try to process all the information available to stay up to date. We read, listen and consume many sources so that we may fit in. Yet we may lose ourselves. We need to rest so that we can connect with God for our own good and the good of others. 

So this Lent we can become people of prayer who seek to see with the eyes of God, allow our hearts to beat in rhythm, and surrender each day to God’s guidance. All shall be well, and in all things, all shall be well.

How do we decide to love people?

 One of the realities in life is how to respond to people who dislike or hate us. We can often spend much of our energy trying to discover what it is that we have done that causes such enmity between us and them. I think that this may be wasted energy because the reasons may be more complex than we imagine. It may be that they remind us of someone who has hurt us or they may have actually caused us harm. They may hold viewpoints significantly different from our own or it may be as simple that they barrack for a different team than our own. However, it is often this ability to divide one against another which can influence how we react and how we will respond differently to the people we like and those we cannot stand.

Yet the Gospel speaks of loving our neighbour not because we agree with them but because they are created in the image and likeness of God. Thus we seek to love the person as God loves them. This can seem paradoxical but it is essentially at the heart of God's creative plan. We even see this in the Jewish law which says an eye for an eye or tooth for a tooth. This is not as it seems a call for vengeance but rather that we are not called to allow evil intentions to consume us in response to the harmful actions of another. Jesus takes this further to ensure that we do not allow our actions simply to react to the actions of another. We are called to consider not just our own good but the good of another. This is so counterintuitive that we often find a way of conditionally loving another rather than the agape love of God. This is why we ponder the crucifix so often as we seek to make sense of the radical love of God which is prepared to suffer and die for us so that we can find new life.

So this is what lies at the heart of the matter. It is not about finding the right argument or position that will convince another that we are right and they are wrong. Rather it is witnessing this radical love of God by giving the whole of ourselves to even the ungrateful and the unkind. This is indeed challenging but it lies at the heart of our consideration that each person is created as a temple of God and should be considered sacred. Thus when we work with others, especially those who oppose us we need to find ways that allow us to give thanks for the work of God within them. It calls us to be people who pray, reflect, and act in a way that is opening to the grace of God who bids us to the same radical love that guided Jesus to surrender everything for the love of us. God did not wait for us to become good but rather bid us to encounter the depth of this love even in situations where we are challenged in our relationships with others. Jesus makes this the principle and foundation of his life when he states we must love our neighbour as ourselves.

Choose Life not death

As we reflect over the last week we have witnessed scenes of life and death played out on our television screens. In reflecting on the tragedy that has occurred in Turkey and Syria one image that stays with me is the father holding the hand of his daughter who died under the rubble. This is a poignant scene of both deep grief and powerlessness. It probably captures our own imagination where we are both intimately present to the suffering of another but also holding it at a distance. It is where we can observe what is happening but question what impact this will have in our own life. It is so easy to notice especially when we approach anniversaries of past tragedies how easy it is to isolate ourselves from the concerns of others. To concentrate on our own backyard and our very real problems

I believe that these concerns can be played out in our spiritual life where we are called to choose life, not death. Ultimately it calls us to reflect on how we can be present to others in our daily life. We can at times seek to contain or direct the Holy Spirit within structures. I believe there is a natural instinct in which we try to box God’s voice into small bite-size pieces rather than provide a trellis in which that life can grow. Thus, any structure is not an end in itself but a support in which the life of God can grow. Without this support, it becomes a wild weed or thick undergrowth which trips people up rather than orientating them toward God. At times of difficulty, we need to be people who are able to rebuild the trellis on which a person’s life can be rebuilt.

In a similar way, we can seek to exert power and control over people rather than exercise authority for the good of others. This is important when we seek to contain our own uncertainties, fear, loneliness, regret, and despair when faced with situations that appear beyond our control. When we seek to be the guiding light we develop theories that become an echo chamber for our own opinion rather than a way of being present to a contemplative silence that embodies us for the good of others. When we seek to assert ourselves, we struggle to listen and be heard. Often what is called for is our ability to be people who walk alongside others as they seek to discover a deeper meaning for their lives.

Lastly, we can tend to mute the conversations into cliché of what others are saying. This is especially true when we seek to blame another for our own circumstances, or we seek to possess what belongs rightfully to another.  When we hear them speak, we switch off our hearts by parodying their voice by mimicking them with our own contempt. This is a place where we know that it does not befriend others or befriend ourselves. It seeks to alienate and isolate all that is fully human. Having lived through the tragedy of human conflict and the ways in which we can become trapped by a lifestyle that makes God into our own image and likeness. The call of our age is to listen once again to the voice of God which seeks us out so that we may become fully human and fully alive. To live Good News which witnesses to the life of God that is birthed within us.

Not mere words but a way of life

 In every age, we are called to shed light on the Gospel to our generation. Jesus talks about this as being the salt of the earth. This can often be seen as being grounded in the reality of daily life. We are called to be seen as Christians not just members of the club which excludes others. The mission of evangelism is not about a recruitment drive but as a witness to what is essential to every human life.

In St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he does not see this through the construct of the best argument or most convincing speech. Rather he talks about how to discuss the knowledge of the Crucified Christ who gives the best of himself for the good of the whole of creation. Our faith is demonstrated when our God prompts us to be people who witness to others in our lives. 

Isaiah says this is constructed in what we would name as Corporal Works of Mercy. We are called to share our bread with the hungry, shelter the homeless poor, clothe the person who is naked, and not the needs of those closest to us. This is contrasted with how we can tend to bind others with our own vision and with a polemical mindset that seeks to crush all opposed to us. Rather we seek to befriend those in greatest need with practical acts of charity that seek what is best for them not just what is good for us.